Within

Chapter 2

Falling. Plummeting through a dark, endless abyss. The air reeked. The dark was darker than black. He couldn't see anything. But he could feel it. The hands. Clawing its way, pulling and gnashing his clothes. Only the eyes he could see within the darkness. Small white orbs that shone in the dark. The eyes, there were no pupils, they were completely white. One minute he was falling, the next running. Running from what? To where? He had no idea. The world around him changed as he ran. It became more... What was that word again? Evil? Yes, that was it. Evil. Somehow, he knew he had to reach the end. Maybe something was there. His heart thumped faster and faster as he was reaching the end. He could feel the darkness fading as he was approaching the end. The hands were gone. Eyes too. He slowed down and trotted forward, looking around him as he went ahead. Another world was forming. Black skies and mountains of red sand poured out. A lightning struck somewhere and the sound of thunder came after. The world around him felt desolate and lonely. As he moved forward, a figure began to appear. A black figure sat on the sand, its head buried in its legs, its back facing towards the boy. It was sobbing. And laughing.

                'Um, mista, are you okay mista?' the boy asked, inching closer to it.

                The figure became quiet instantly. It got up and turned around to face the boy. It didn't have a face, save his mouth. It was grinning wildly, revealing black shiny teeth, lips extending from one corner of his face to the other. The boy couldn't move or scream no matter how much he wanted to, he was scared stiff. He could only stare at the dark man as his grin got wider and wider. The man extended his bony arm and was reaching to grab the boy. Its hand and fingers elongated as it grabbed and crushed him, breaking every single bone, engulfing him in darkness. And then...

                'NOOOOOO!!!' Damon awoke with a jolt. 'Shh... Damon. Its just another dream, buddy. I'm here. Papa's here. You're safe, don't worry. Go back to sleep.' soothed Jack, who was sitting beside Damon on his bed. Jack was holding Damon's clenched fist. It was thrashing about awhile ago before he woke up.

                'Pa, the dream, it was so real. So real... The man, the dark man, he... he... ' Damon's voice trailed off, unable to get ahold of words that he meant to say. He was only four, and he was still learning words. Some big, some small. Damon always felt frustrated when he really wanted to say something to other people, but couldn't. In the beginning, he would pause to think of the word. And when he finally managed to say the word he was searching for, he would forget what he was babbling about a second ago. In the end, he decided to stay silent for awhile, hoping that the person he was talking to understood him. Most of the time, they didn't.

                'Yes, Damon? What did the dark man do?' Jack asked, hoping that it would bring closure to his son's dream. 'He... He...' Damon stuttered, hoping that his father could continue his sentence. 'I'm sorry, Damon. I don't get what you're trying to say. But it's okay now. Go back to sleep. Here, I'll leave your lights on, okay? And I'm sorry I didn't had time to tell your bedtime story.'

                'That's okay, um... good night pa.'

                'Good night, buddy.'

                With that, Jack kissed Damon's forehead, left his room and went to check on Kelsi. Kelsi, as usual, was sleeping invertedly on her bed, head on footboard while feet on headboard. It was a habit of hers to roll around the bed, often pushing away the bed covers and morphing into awkward sleeping positions throughout the night. Jack chuckled softly, re-inverted and tucking her into bed.

                As he got ready for his own good night's sleep, he couldn't help but wonder how everything is going to change once they move out. He was already worried about Kelsi's and Damon's reaction, something this big he had waited for so long before he could tell them. And out of the blue too. Hey, kids. We're moving. To where you might ask? Oh, to our new home of course. I just bought it. It's an old gloomy apartment. With grey walls, scary mirrors and shit like that. Why? Cause we're bankrupt. Bank's taking back the house you're currently standing on. We don't have a choice. So pack your bags and lets roll. Argh, shit. I'm doing it again, am I? Jack thought to himself as he fiddled with the apartment key in his pocket. He could feel something big was about to take shape in his family's life. Whether it was good or bad, however, he did not have a clue.